Robbinsdale Neighbors Clean Up After Severe Storms Down Trees, Power Lines
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The morning after the storm, it can be tough to avoid the sound of chainsaws.
In Robbinsdale, entire streets are blocked by oversized tree limbs. Danger lurks as downed power lines are hidden here and there.
"All the sudden the sirens went," said Tracy DePriest. "Our power went out almost simultaneously and I saw the pine tree coming right at the window and I'm like downstairs. It was loud."
DePriest's family got in the basement just before a huge tree in her yard snapped and fell into the garage.
"This tree was inside of our fence line and completely hopped the fence and pulled up their concrete sidewalk and completely just crushed our garage" DePriest said.
Their cars are banged up too.
"It was very scary. It happened very very fast and I feel like it lasted maybe 10 minutes," DePriest said.
"You gotta be careful with downed power lines, they could be energized," said Wes Nichols, with Pro Tree Outdoor Services.
Nichols said to clear DePriest's tree, they will need a crane.
"This is the most amount of damage I've seen so far," Nichols said.
Paul Scheriff has some cleanup of his own to do. While there was no damage to his house, he had countless limbs down in his backyard.
"Our whole sun room is like windows and then it hit and we were like 'yeah we should probably not be in this room' cause we looked up, and you can see where it was twisting up whole branches as it went," said Kevin Hohlstein.
There's no choice here but to clear the streets branch by branch.
Hours of worked caused by minutes of intense storms.